Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
Veteran Social activist and former Haryana MLA Swami Agnivesh has recently passed away in Delhi, after he was suffering from liver cirrhosis.
Swami Agnivesh was considered as a revolutionary leader of Arya Samaj and had led a campaign against bonded labour and female foeticide. He was also an advocate for the dialogue between religions.

Notes:
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Rajasthan government to develop the MSME ecosystem in the state.
This is the initiative of the Department of Industries, Rajasthan to provide financial and technical support to MSMEs in the state. The state has also amended the MSME Act to promote industries and exempt businesses from permissions and inspections for three years.

Notes:
Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar virtually addressed the inaugural session of the intra-Afghan talks, being held in Doha.
Earlier this week, the Minister had visited Iran and discussed the Chabahar port project and the situation in Afghanistan. The Defence Minister also met his counterpart in Iran. India had earlier attended the signing of the US-Taliban pact on February 29.

Notes:
A new study published in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has found that Vitamin D supplements can decrease the rate of ICU admissions due to Covid-19.
The vitamin is found to be stimulating immune responses against various diseases including the novel coronavirus. The study was conducted on 76 patients who tested positive for Covid-19 in Spain. The patients who received the supplement were discharged without complications.

Notes:
The Baghjan Oil Well of Oil India Limited (OIL) is located in Eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district has been put off.
A massive fire occurred in the Oil well due to equipment failure and it turned out into a blowout, which means uncontrolled escape of gas at great speed. Oil India Limited (OIL) and foreign experts managed to tame the fire after 110 days.

Notes:
Yoshihide Suga has been elected as the new head of Japan’s ruling party. It is almost certain that he would be the next Prime Minister of Japan.
Last month, the incumbent Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his resignation for reasons of ill health. Yoshihide Suga is said to be a close ally of Mr Abe and likely to continue his predecessor’s policies.

Notes:
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Sameer Kumar Khare as new Executive Director of Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The veteran bureaucrat has been appointed to the post for a tenure of three years. Sameer Kumar is a 1989-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. He is currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs under Ministry of Finance.

Notes:
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that tariff barriers (additional tariffs) imposed by USA in 2018 on Chinese goods is inconsistent with international trading norms.
This has come as a severe blow to the US administration. The ruling was pronounced by a 3-member panel of WTO, against the USD 200 billion in levies imposed by USA on a range of Chinese goods in 2018.

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh government has recently announced that it will give cows to the families of malnourished children in the state.
This programme has been launched as a part of ‘Poshan Maah’ (Nutrition Month) launched for the month of September across the country. The UP government would be carrying out this exercise under the ‘Chief Minister Destitute Cow Participation Scheme’.

Notes:
Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair has recently received the Jeff Skoll Award for Impact Media at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Nair was one of the six recipients of the TIFF Tribute Awards ceremony along with veteran actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet among others. The presentation of the award to Nair was initiated by Tabu, star of Mira’s television series ‘A Suitable Boy’.